Romania: IDF finds all 6 bodies

Coffins to be loaded on Hercules transport aircraft in ceremony.

By YAAKOV KATZ JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT

July 28, 2010 20:22

4 minute read.

IDF Romania delegation.
(photo credit: Dover IDF)

BOBOC, ROMANIA - The IDF search and rescue team succeeded Wednesday evening in retrieving all the bodies of the Israeli Air Force servicemen who were killed earlier this week in a helicopter training accident in central Romania. .

The IDF delegation consists of forensic experts and members of the Rabbinical Corps who are equipped with files on all of the fallen servicemen, which include fingerprints, dental records and other identifying markings that can be used in confirming the identities of the bodies.

On Thursday the IDF will hold a ceremony at the Boboc air force base in which it will load the coffins of the air force servicemen on to a Hercules transport aircraft to fly them home for burial.

The teams headed to the scene of the helicopter crash in the Carpethian mountains to recover the remains of the six IAF servicemen who were pronounced dead after their Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion transport helicopter crashed on Monday in a military exercise.

Leaving from the Romanian air force base, helicopters landed on a mountain three kilometers from the crash site, and teams from 669 hiked to the wreckage using ropes to repel down the steep ravine.

"The wreckage is scattered over a large area," a senior IDF officer told the Jerusalem Post. "The teams are at the site working to collect the remains and pieces of the wreckage which are required for the air force's investigation into what caused caused the crash."

IAF commander Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan held a video conference call with members of the Israeli delegation at the Romanian air force base in Boboc and was receiving regular updates on the rescue efforts. The 669 unit was being assisted by search dogs from the Oketz unit which are specially trained to locate body parts. The IDF officer said that the operation was likely to last all day Wednesday and if needed will continue Thursday morning.

Even though the IDF had yet to reach the crash site, Romanian authorities declared that the airmen, and a Romanian military officer, had been killed. Late on Tuesday evening, Romanian rescue authorities found the black box flight recorder at the site, which may provide vital information on the cause of the crash.

Romanian Defense Minister Gabriel Oprea sent condolences to families of those that died and Defense Minister Ehud Barak expressed his “deep regret,” according to a ministry statement.

The crash occurred during a military exercise in which crews are trained to fly at low altitudes. The joint exercises with Romania, which were due to end on Thursday, were suspended after the accident.

On Tuesday, The Jerusalem Post accompanied the IDF military attaché to Romania, Col. Shlomi Cohen, as he climbed up the steep Carpathian mountain range in central Romania to try to get to the site of the crash.

Due to the bad weather, poor visibility and tough terrain, it was impossible to get all the way to the wreckage.

Teams arrived Tuesday in two Hercules C-130 transport aircraft, and will be working with Wednesday's crews and with officers from the IDF Chaplaincy Corps – responsible for identifying the bodies – to find the remains of the servicemen.

The rescue work is expected to take all of Wednesday and possibly longer, depending on the weather.

“The teams will try their best to get there first thing in the morning,” IAF Deputy Commander Brig.-Gen. Nimrod Shefer said. “The remains of the helicopter are spread over a wide area, in a steep ravine, difficult to reach.”

Shefer explained the IAF’s decision to ground all of its aircraft on Tuesday. “It is important that we stop and think about the families and the missing servicemen,” he said.

The IAF committee of inquiry into the crash will also visit the scene and will begin collecting evidence.

“All of the possibilities are currently being investigated,” Shefer said.

The main directions of the inquiry are either a mechanical malfunction in the aircraft or human error, possibly caused by the thick fog during Monday’s flight.

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